The shark fin trade kills an estimated 73-100 million sharks annually, often by live finning where fins are removed and the living shark is discarded overboard to drown.
Live finning causes acute pain, blood loss, asphyxiation and a prolonged terrified death as a conscious animal sinks unable to swim and oxygenate its gills. This is among the most unambiguous and severe welfare violations in any fishery globally. Even where fish sentience is uncertain, the scale and severity of suffering in finning is extreme. Consumer demand reduction in shark fin consuming markets is the most effective welfare intervention.